The Rarest & Most Valuable Nintendo Gamecube Games

Nintendo game libraries are always filled with all sorts of collectibles. Between the cult following of the corporate brand and the fact the platforms have played underdogs at times (especially the Gamecube), it’s not a surprise that there are some treasures to be found in the Nintendo library.

Update: Prices Current as of March 2019

In stark contrast to the Cheapest Games series, this Rare & Valuable series will round up the rarest and most valuable games for a given console or handheld so you’ll know what to look for whether you are buying or selling. Below you will see two prices beside each title. The first is the average daily selling price, which is typically the going rate for a game in non-ideal condition. The second price is the highest price in the past three months for a complete, non-sealed game (sealed prices are also listed separately if recent example exists). The list is ordered by the balance of the two prices. Note that some of these games are not rare in the sense that there are not many available, but rare relative to demand, which makes the games expensive.

Treasured Standard USA Releases

Pokemon Box: $140-$820

Pokemon Box isn’t a game but allows players to store and sort Pokemon from the Gameboy Advance Pokemon games. In North America, the Pokemon Box was only sold at the Nintendo World store and online, which greatly limited its availability. The European version was never sold in stores but available through the Nintendo of Europe loyalty program. If you’d like to see the full contents of the Pokemon Box, just check out this photo.

The Pokemon Box has always held its value rather well, going for $40 to $65 back in 2011 and the breaking into our Top 10 of this guide back in 2013 in the $65 to $183 range. But the resurgence of the Pokemon franchise, thanks to Pokemon Go seems to really made a difference. Pokemon Go now has beaten out some strong competition to top our North American release list. Mint copies may be approaching the $1000 range before too long if demand stay strong!

Gotcha Force: $90-$565

In the peak of the Gamecube’s hype Capcom was touting a handful of exclusive [at least intended at first] titles for the Cube that would complement Nintendo’s offerings nicely. The Capcom Five got a lot of buzz in 2002 and 2003. While some of them later received ports after the Gamecube struggled to battle the PS2 and Xbox, Capcom added another interesting exclusive in the form of Gotcha Force at the tail end of 2003.

Gotcha Force was hybrid of a fighting and third-person shooter that has a youthful appeal with its like-Pokemon-with-robots approach (without RPG grinding). Upon release, the game received mixed reviews from critics — often due from a lack of depth. However, it did find its fans and has become a bit of a cult classic. The game didn’t have a rather limited print run, but due to stronger popularity in Japan, Capcom did a second print run for the region years later in 2012. No such luck for North America.

Gotcha Force has never really been easy to find, but you could usually pick it up for about $20 through 2012 (Our 2011 guide had it marked at $10 to $23). Our 2013 guide revision showed it starting its climb in the $37 to $70 range. It’s been a rather steady climb since then until it became the most valuable standard North American retail release for the Gamecube.

Metroid Prime & Zelda Wind Waker Combo: $145-$300

This Pack-In Combo Disc was exclusive to a special console bundle that was only available during the 2005 holiday shopping season. Unlike most pack-in games, this Metroid Prime / Wind Waker combo did have a full game case and there are actually still sealed copies out there. For those that are curious, the case is filled with two of the Gamecube mini-DVDs — they aren’t actually combined on one disc.

I’ve heard many people pass by this pack-in release in used game store in years passed because it didn’t look especially attractive. Now that collectors have been well aware of it, there are many instances of regret.

Our 2013 guide showed a range pf $150 to $200 for this variation. So, overall, it has been just a subtle but gradual increase over the last six years, it can be slightly easier to find a low-end copy for a bit less cash.

NCAA College Basketball 2K3: $150-$250 ($1500 Sealed)

This is arguably the hardest retail Gamecube game to find in the wild. While the platform did get some initial sports game support from Sega, the Gamecube was never much of a go-to for genre — that typically went to the Xbox and PS2 grows. Sega was far along in development on their NCAA Basketball 2K3 production to warrant publishing, albeit in limited quantities. They had slightly higher hopes, but they ended up stopping production mid-way and halting the 2K sports series on the Gamecube altogether.

Between our guide revisions in both 2011 and 2013, NCAA 2K3 stayed rather steady in the $40 to $110 range, but has since picked up a lot of steam.

Cubivore: $75-$310

This bizarre but charming action adventure game based on gobbling up things in your environment to grow and evolve was actually developed by Nintendo with the Nintendo 64DD in mind, but eventually moved it to the Gamecube when the 64’s add-on didn’t succeed. Nintendo wasn’t actually interested in publishing the game outside of Japan, but Altus picked up the publishing rights to the game and localized it themselves.

Cubivore was actually one of the hardest Gamecube games to find originally, but Altus decided to do an additional print run down the line without having any indicators of the second print run. Any collectors that already had the game were rather annoyed at the time. In fact, even in 2011, the gamer could be found in the $30 to $47 range. By 2013, it jumped to $39 to $91. Since then, every Gamecube collector has been on the prowl for it and making this climb the charts.

Disney Sports Basketball: $60-$245

While the Gamecube wasn’t known as a consoles to find lots of sports games, it did have the reputation in its early years being the console for the younger demographic. Disney and Konami apparently thought that this would be an opportunity to fill in the sports gap with a title that would appeal to kids and benefit from the strong Disney license. Unfortunately, Konami’s efforts didn’t translate well into a compelling experience or respectable sales. It did have some NBA Jam-inspired gameplay and a nice visual presentation, but that just wasn’t enough to do the trick.

In our our earlier guides, this game barely registered despite its rarity. You could easily find Disney Sports Basketball for between $10 and $30 through 2015. The collecting crowd finally caught on in 2017, when it started hitting its current range.

Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus $80-$230 ($300 Sealed)

After an ambitious attempt to make the Dreamcast the next-gen console for online gameplay, Sega brought its MMOPRG to the Gamecube. It received diehard support and limited commercial success.

This particular release is a re-release of Episodes I & II that fixed a few bugs in the initial release and added a few extra areas. While these improvements were admirable, the audience was limited due to the Gamecube requiring a separate network adapter and only so many people that wanted to upgrade from the original release. (Episodes I and II were also ported to the more online-friendly Xbox)

The original Ep I & II release used to rank fairly high on this list, but hasn’t appreciated in value much at all over the years like many of its peers. The Plus Edition, however has seen a gradual increase over the years. 2011 saw it in the $55 to $130 range and 2013 increase to the $75 to $154 range. Pristine copies since then have seen the biggest uptick over the last six years.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: $80-$200 ($250 Sealed)

This challenging strategy series finally made its way out of Japan on both the Game Boy Advance and the Gamecube while building a small but loyal following in the States (although including Fire Emblem’s Marth in Smash Bros Melee could have helped as well). Path of Radiance was released in rather small quantities in North America as the Gamecube was on its final legs in 2005.

Path of Radiance held its resale value solidly from the time of its retail release. While it wasn’t quite one of the most in-demand titles in 2011, it gradually rose to the $34 to $77 range. However, but 2013, it had doubled to a $77 to $150 range in just two years’ time. However, in these last six years, we have seen much more modest growth.

Sonic Adventure 2 Pack: $150 – $200

This special retail package featured Players Choice (Greatest Hits) editions of both Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle inside one special outer cardboard box. There’s nothing special about the games and primary cases inside that box compared to their normal Players Choice editions. So most of this limited editions’ value lays in that extra outer cardboard box.

This setup is really hard to find on eBay, let alone in the wild. There was one sold in 2016 for about $165, but we have’t seen one like it since. It’s also worth mentioning that with it featuring a cardboard box, it’s quite challenging to find one without at least a bit of wear around the edges. Interestingly enough, we’ve also seen an auction this past December with Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle supposedly factory sealed together in a similar manner but without the outer cardboard box. It did not find a buyer for $145, but has been relisted for $140.Check for Sonic Adventure 2 Pack on eBay

Go Go Hypergrind: $50-$200 ($275 Sealed)

Altus-published games have been increasingly a common occurrence in our most valuable guide rankings. Go Go Hypergrind, however is not their typical RPG fare. Instead, this game is a cell-shaded skateboarding game in collaboration with animation studio Spümcø of Ren & Stimpy fame (interestingly the game was released just two years before the animation studio shut down). Instead of trying to perform tricks “flawlessly”, players are encouraged turn “tricks” into wacky cartoon mishaps and eventually learning to chain those into combos.

Even though the game was developed by be that was developed by Team Poponchi at Atlus Japan, the game never was actually released in Japan. The game received mixed reviews and remained in obscurity (and a $8 to $12 price range) up until mid 2016 when collectors started taking notice of it being an Altus production and wanted to add it to their Gamecube libraries at increasing premiums. By mid 2017, collectors were looking at a $42 to $100 price range.

Skies of Arcadia Legends: $65-$110 ($145 Sealed)

Solid RPGs often have a strong presence on these Rare and Valuable guides. Skies of Arcadia was originally one of the few great RPGs on the Sega Dreamcast, but this enhanced version eventually made its way to the Gamecube as well. Both consoles ended up being commercial disappointments, but that almost creates even more of a sense of collectibility for games like this.

Skies of Arcadia Legends rose quickly up this years a few years back, but its relatively availability has kept it from getting too high on this list. While it nearly tripled in value between 2011 ($27 to $63) and 2013 ($66 to $137), it has stayed relatively stable in value over the last six years.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (Black Label): $55-$95 ($150 Sealed)

Of course, Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of the very best-selling games in the Gamecube library, so it is not rare by any means. However, most of the game’s sales are of the “Nintendo Choice” (Greatest Hits) with the yellow stripe on the packaging.

Ikaruga: $40-$92 ($120 Sealed)

This legendary 2D shooter began with hype early on as Treasure’s follow-up to their legendary shmup, Radiant Silvergun from the arcade and Sega Saturn. Originating in the arcade and being brought to Sega’s Dreamcast in Japan, Ikaruga was praised by shmup fans and highly collectable from the start. Considering the genre was rather niche and the Gamecube was a bit of a niche console itself, it was a bit surprising that not only would Ikaruga be ported to the Gamecube, but it would also get a North American release.

Since then, we’ve seen Ikaruga also be remade in full HD on the Xbox 360’s XBLA and the Nintendo Switch, but this Gamecube version remains as the only physical release that was sold in North America. (And the Dreamcast’s version is the only other physical release worldwide)Check for Ikaruga on eBayCheck for Ikaruga on Amazon

Zelda Wind Waker & Ocarina Master Quest Combo: $63 – $120

As a limited-quality, pre-order bonus for Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Nintendo offered a special disc that was an emulation-powered release of Ocarina of Time, but also “Master Quest”, which was which is a remix of sorts that is based on an Expansion to Ocarina of Time that was made for the Nintendo 64DD. The Ocarina of Time/Master Quest disc was also available in other methods as a stand-alone release, but this particular arrangement had a case that featured combined artwork. Check out this photo to see the full contents of this special edition.

In the older installments of this guide, we included the Legend of Zelda Collectors Edition (4 Game Collection) and the individual Ocarina of Time/Master Quest disc+case. Those have since cooled down in value, but this particular variation is more difficult to find and has help some value well. The price ranges above are only for copies with the full case as loose discs have the same value as their “standard” releases. Complete copies should have a single case but two discs and two manuals.

Rarest Games at Affordable Prices

Each of these games are quite hard to find, but routinely sell for $30 or less. If you are an collector and see a mint copy of any of these on eBay for a low price, you might want to snatch them up — you might not see them often and they could be a higher profile target down the line.

8 Comments

Thanks for the update. It’s interesting that GameCube game prices have lapped n64 game prices. I’m also surprised Pikmin 2 isn’t on here, even among the honorable mentions. That was a tough game to find back in the day.

Question is, are GameCube games the most collectable of the sixth-gen consoles? It seems to be running neck-and-neck with the PS2.

I haven’t refreshed all my N64 number yet (actually that and the PS1 are on my list for the next ones to update fully). But the N64 does have some good nostalgia going on right now. But “average” prices might be more along the lines of most N64 games being cartridge only.

And even though a lot of people have a soft spot for the N64, people like me only play the console in small doses as its one of those eras of awkwardness. I love me some F-Zero X among others, but its near the bottom of consoles I would “collect” for.

And yeah, Pikmin 2 really cooled down. I know the Wii version helped with that a little bit, but that seemed to take a while to be reflected in resale prices. I wonder if Pikmin 3 helped take the edge off too. But 2 is the only one of the trilogy I don’t yet have…. If I find a clean copy in the wild, I’ll probably pick it up.

And yeah, I was kinda thinking the Gamecube, on average, has held its value the best. PS2 just has SO much and some popular rarities in there. But I know in the resale shops, most of the interesting games are usually more expensive on the GC (I’m pretty sure you’ll pay a premium for GC for multiplatform titles).

FYI: I actually forgot I actually did my spreadsheet for N64 already in preparation. You’re right — other than some big ones with some variations, most of the top 10 N64 games are in the $50 range for low-end and sub-$200 for high end.

Thanks for confirming my musings. It’s funny, but I think you’re right re:GameCube multiplatform games having a price premium these days. It’s just strange to me, because many of these games ended up being ported to the oXbox, which generally had better ports but whose games tend to be the cheapest of the three. Nintendo collectors are definitely a thing.

Re: the N64, I’ve been thinking about how the 5th gen consoles have aged, and you’re somewhat right. Many (but not all) the FPS and sports games on the 64 have not aged well, and the 64 had far less diversity overall than the Nintendo consoles that preceded and followed it. But it’s first-party lineup remains very relevant, and arguably outclasses what the GameCube had (on the other hand, the Cube’s 3rd party support was much, much stronger than the N64’s). It’s arguably the 5th-gen console that aged best, despite the fact that its games are the cheapest to track down.

It could just be a sales thing tbh. The Cube sold poorly for a Nintendo console, and maybe the supply just isn’t out there as much as it is for N64 games (or PS2 games, for that matter)?

My 2 cents: I wouldn’t bother with Ikaruga unless you are up for the shmup grind (i.e., putting in the work to get decent at the game). $50 is a decent price for a game I feel the average gamer wouldn’t appreciate fully.

(I love shmups and Ikaruga’s one of my top 3 probably; I just recognize that shmups are not for everyone. This goes doubly for Ikaruga and its puzzle-shmup hybrid ways.)